Redefining your home in 2021

To say that the year 2020 has redefined almost all aspects of our everyday lives would be an understatement. Almost all of our usual activities needed to be reimagined and reconstructed, starting from our simple home duties through work and our social gatherings. This grave change in our everyday workings had profound effects on our immediate environment, which proved to be one of the biggest challenges for interior designers in 2021: our home had to change drastically in order to serve our newfound practical needs. Professionals are working to come up with design solutions that help us transition from our old lives to the new, while contributing to our mental health in these trying times, and also delivering on modern aesthetics. Let’s see what we can expect from the ideal home of 2021!

Interior by Laura Fulmine

Escape to reality

Last year proved to be a wake-up call for everyone: our way of life has been questioned, while many of us had to face harsh truths. This change is evident in the homes of 2021, where for some the ideal world of minimalistic interior design is fading away. We spend most of our time at home, piling up many objects and furniture in the space around us, demanding the introduction of clever home logistics and ergonomic design solutions. While maximalism had its fair share of time in the limelight these past years, 2021 will probably see a boom in the ever-increasing popularity of maximalism, becoming a standard in many homes.

1. Interior by Yvonne O’Brien, The Private House Company. 2. Interior by Margo Hupert / Interior by Joseph Dirand

The maximalist approach allows us to accept our homes for what they have become in 2020: spaces that are chaotic, busy, but exceptionally personal. And as we are forced to stay indoors, the lack of outside impulses must be compensated by finding them between the four walls. In place of the idealist, we’ll welcome the ideal. This doesn’t mean that maximalism will completely wipe minimalism from the interior design encyclopedias. The emphasis has to be on our immediate environment’s readiness to suit our diverse needs. In other words: comfort is a must. The place where we work and study needs to be one of warmth. These widely differing but relevant styles will most certainly be of great value to everyone looking for a soothing environment. 

Products seen in the images: Tecno SpA P32 armchair. Designed by Osvaldo Borsani.

Colors of the year

If you’re up-to-date in the world of interior design, you know that the arrival of the New Year means that the Pantone Color Insitute’s latest “Color of the Year’’ announcement is right around the corner as well. And to drive the fact home that 2020 was an extraordinary year by all standards, Pantone announced not one, but two “Colors of the Year” for 2021: Ultimate Grey and Illuminating. This is an intentional duality of colors: for Pantone, it was crucial to present a color that - in the form of the yellow Illuminating - radiates energetic optimism and hope in troubled times, while also reminding us, through Ultimate Grey, of a secure world standing on solid foundations.

Harrison Spinks Lalique bed back / Chelsea House. Interior by Aube Interiors.

Neither of these perspectives can exist without the other: as we look towards our future, we shouldn’t leave those values behind that stood the test of time. While opening up new possibilities for a brighter tomorrow, we have to make traditions of the past relevant again. Thus, our bold choices and positivity will be guided by experience and knowledge. Pantone’s timely color choice will surely affect interior design in 2021: we yearn for a calming, warm environment, while distancing ourselves from faux elements, idealistic spaces and artificial materials, turning our view towards the timeless shapes and materials provided to us by Nature.

Interior by Fietje Bruijn

Home Office revolution

The single biggest influence on interior spaces in 2020 were, without a doubt, mandatory home office hours. For a large portion of working people, their home became their primary place for work. It’s only natural that this would result in profound changes in interior design standards. For starters, one of the more popular trends in interior design is already fading into obscurity: the open floor plan. In recent years, many homes welcomed the disappearing boundaries between different spaces, such as the living room and the kitchen, resulting in an optical expansion of space, as well as increased mobility between areas. But this year, families working and studying from home were reminded of the importance of privacy. In the homes of 2021 it is, once again, a necessity to establish separate, private spaces.

Products seen in the images: Artemide Tolomeo Floor Mega lamp, Eames Aluminum Group Management chair / Interior by James Cutler, Cutler Anderson Architects.

Establishing the boundaries of your workspace is essential in achieving efficiency in work, whether these are real or visual boundaries. The garden, for example, can be a nice alternative for anyone wanting to spend more time outdoors, as - obviously - the restrictions of the interior are not in play here. The growing popularity of mobile offices and tiny houses can be the basis for your inspiration. Of course, the proximity of nature will always be beneficial, even if you can’t physically relocate outside. Renewed interest for design solutions resembling nature is no accident: rattan, natural fabrics and surfaces, and calming earth colors are stealing the show in modern home design. In a similar fashion, beautiful home plants can be utilized in the establishment of your work area.

Interior by Marion Lanoë / Interior by Brittany Shields

Not every interior benefits from these types of areal divisions. In a smaller home, try to use accent colors to highlight your workspace, and if you are desperate to save as much space as possible, there are solutions available to hide your home office in a cabinet entirely. If you don’t have the option to separate your work area from your living quarters on any level, try to procure the most aesthetic office furniture for your interior, along with accessories that unite ergonomy with quality design. No matter what you do, you should never let your focus be redirected from your primary goal of creating a home environment that perfectly suits your personal needs in these unprecedented times.

Products seen in the images: Ellwood-Lomax table, interior by Michael Boyd. / Interior by Ashe Leandro.

2020 had a striking effect on interior design, from space allocation through the use of multifunctional furniture to color use and ornamentation. In our article, we focused on the more obvious changes in global trends, but this is only the tip of the iceberg: to fully explore the varied world of interior design in 2021, don’t hesitate to visit the S/ALON Budapest Interior Design fair between September 24-26. 2021. Let’s all meet at the Budapest Arena!

Our professional assistant for the article was Kata Hortobágyi. Products seen on the cover image: One Forty Three wall light, Elgin table, Performance Elda by Ben Soleimani rug, KILZ Chalk Gray wall paint. Interior by Emily Henderson.